Paranormal skeptic rains on Stroudsburg's devil tale

For several days in February 1983, Don Decker was possessed by a demonic force that caused him to make it rain indoors, levitate and bleed from mysterious scratches that suddenly appeared on his body.

CHRISTINA TATU

For several days in February 1983, Don Decker was possessed by a demonic force that caused him to make it rain indoors, levitate and bleed from mysterious scratches that suddenly appeared on his body.

Sound too bizarre to be true?

New Zealand researcher Robert Bartholomew says residents should be skeptical of the case, which gained Stroudsburg paranormal notoriety.

His research, trying to crack the case of Stroudsburg's "Rain Boy," was fittingly published in the most recent issue of Skeptic magazine.

Witnesses believed Decker was possessed by the devil and even recounted the events for two popular TV shows — "Unsolved Mysteries" in 1993 and most recently "Paranormal Witness," which aired in November 2011 on the Syfy Channel.

Bartholomew, who is originally from Whitehall, N.Y., and is now a teacher at the Botany Downs Secondary College in New Zealand, frequently writes about the paranormal for medical and sociology journals.

"Why didn't anyone videotape or photograph these events, despite cameras and videotape being widely available?" Bartholomew writes. "It is beyond belief that if these events were as dramatic as they claimed, no one snapped pictures."

It was Feb. 26, 1983.

Decker's grandfather had just died, and he was on compassionate leave from Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he was serving time for receiving stolen property.

During his leave, Decker stayed at the Ann Street home rented by family friends Bob and Jeannie Kieffer. (The home has since been demolished.)

Decker was in the upstairs bathroom washing up for supper when he fell to the floor and said he had a vision of an old man wearing a crown in a window.

Deep scratches suddenly appeared on his wrist.

Decker told the Kieffers about the incident when he sat down to eat.

Shortly after, the family heard a loud noise from above and noticed water dripping from the walls and ceiling.

Kieffer phoned his landlord, Ron Van Why, and the pair went to investigate.

The two thought it might be leaky pipes, but the only pipes were located on the other side of the house, Kieffer said during his 2011 interview on "Paranormal Witness."

The men also noticed Decker seemed to be in a trance, so they called local police.

According to reports of the event, Officer John Baujan and Officer Richard Wolbert responded.

In his interview with "Paranormal Witness," Baujan said he, too, believed Decker was possessed and decided to call then-Chief of Police Gary Roberts to the house.

Roberts was not convinced anything unnatural was going on and ordered his officers to leave and not file a report.

The next day, officers William Davies and John Rundle visited the Kieffer home against Roberts' wishes.

During their time at the home, Davies and Rundle said they witnessed Decker burn himself on a gold cross, be lifted up and thrown across the room by an unseen force, shortly after which three claw marks appeared on Decker's neck.

The rain lasted from Friday through Sunday night.

The day after it stopped at the Ann Street home, Decker was taken back to Monroe County Correctional Facility, where the rain allegedly followed him.

Officers on duty at the jail described the water seeming to defy gravity as it traveled "up" the cell walls and flew sideways through the air.

Then-shift supervisor Dave Keenhold became convinced something supernatural was going on after a drop of water supposedly flew across the room and hit him in the chest.

Other officers on duty that night said they had dared Decker to make it "rain" on the shift supervisor.

Convinced an evil force was involved, Keenhold called the jail's chaplain, William Blackburn, to perform an exorcism.

After the ritual, the events never happened again.

Bartholomew repeatedly questions why the events weren't recorded if they were as dramatic as portrayed in witness accounts.

"Why not phone the local TV station to record this event? All we are left with are eyewitness accounts from excited observers with a world view that includes the reality of the devil," Bartholomew writes in his article.

He believes stress, and even the weather, could have played a role in the bizarre events.

"Human perception is notoriously unreliable even under ideal conditions. Stress can alter perceptions, and it is difficult to imagine few events more stressful than believing you are in the presence of a man who is possessed by demonic forces," Bartholomew writes.

At the time of the events, Decker was under extreme stress, serving time in jail and experiencing the death of a relative.

"While so-called trance states may be triggered by stress and do not necessarily denote mental illness or disorder, they are also easily faked. It is remarkable Decker did not receive medical attention; instead, attempts were made to exorcise him," the article says.

As for the rain, a report by the Manufactured Housing Research Alliance says Pennsylvania is at moderate to high risk for winter moisture problems, with one of the most severe events being ice damming.

This is caused by warm air entering an attic that melts snow on the outer surface of a roof, resulting in an accumulation of ice under which pools of water form and leak.

Skeptic magazine is published by The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization whose mission, according to its website, is to engage leading experts in investigating the paranormal and "extraordinary claims of all kinds and to promote critical thinking."

The society's executive director and magazine publisher, Michael Shermer, is also a monthly columnist for Scientific American.

"Why be a skeptic?" Bartholomew said. "I want to believe in the paranormal. I would describe myself as an open-minded researcher who follows where the facts lead, and in this instance, it's an indictment of TV docudramas.

"I do not think those involved are lying. I think it is a classic case of social delusion. If these events happened the way people claim they did, over several days, it is beyond belief that no one took photos."